Perjury Charges Leveled Fire Inspector Gave Arson Deposition

FORT LAUDERDALE -- A former city fire inspector has been arrested and charged with perjury for allegedly giving contradictory testimony in arson proceedings in April.

Douglas John Auriemma, 29, a Fire Department employee for three years, surrendered to Fort Lauderdale Detective James E. Ives on Thursday after an arrest warrant was issued Wednesday by the Broward County State Attorney`s Office.

Auriemma, a Margate resident who submitted his resignation from the department two weeks ago, testified in the trial of Victor Butzky and his son, Victor Nicholas Butzky, who were charged in June 1985 with the December 1984 arson of the father`s Hair Studio Inc. in the Backstreet Village Mall at 200 W. Broward Blvd.

In a pre-trial sworn statement, Auriemma gave detailed testimony about crawling through a small hole in the building, prosecutors said. The statement backed up the defense position that the person who set fire to the beauty shop forced his way inside.

The prosecution claimed that the hole was too small for a human to fit through, and that the arsonist must have had keys to the building.

When Auriemma testified during the trial, however, he recanted his earlier statement and said he didn`t crawl through the hole.

Assistant State Attorney Keith Schafer, who is handling the perjury case, said Auriemma`s testimony was crucial to the trial, in which the Butzkys were acquitted.

But Jim Tylock, the assistant state attorney who prosecuted the Butzkys` case, said he wasn`t sure that Auriemma`s testimony affected the outcome of the trial.

``I really don`t think it made that much difference,`` Tylock said. ``He was a rookie giving his first deposition. He just kept talking.``

Auriemma was suspended without pay for 10 days after the incident, Fire Department officials said. This year he requested and was granted a transfer from the Fire Marshal`s Office to the combat division. His resignation is effective today.

During a polygraph test administered the day after the trial by the Police Department, Auriemma admitted that he lied during his deposition about crawling through the hole, according to police records. He said he did it because he wanted to be helpful.